Category: Playlists

I love pole dancing but I hate the ugliness that sometimes comes with the territory in terms of bullying and mean girl/boy behavior. This ugliness is unfortunately human but that doesn’t mean we have to take crap from people.

Last week, the pole world was in a frenzy on social media due to a negative comment made by a popular woman in the community, who is, according to many reports, known as a bully. Said woman criticized another pole dancer and a popular move that she invented. Not liking something is a matter of opinion. We all have pole moves that we don’t like aesthetically but how the message is communicated is important, and when you insult people or try to put yourself on a pedestal, that’s when drama arises so, that situation got ugly.

I’m not here to rehash that story but my sister in pole wrote about it over at Polelitical. My purpose today is to bring you cheer, and music is always the remedy. Without further adieu, I present the “Eff a Hater” playlist.

I have always been a music hoarder. Before pole dancing, I lived to find and collect a good song. Now that I am a pole dancer, finding a good song to pole dance to is an extra bonus. For me, good music goes on the top ten list of all things awesome in life, so I was excited that this month’s PDBA blog hop had to do with pole-related playlists.

Lately, my pole dancing mood has been all about fluid motion and music that sparks passion in my body. I can’t explain the latter, it’s just something that I feel.

The following 10 songs are sexy, smooth and great for sensual and fluid pole routines.

1. The Internet – “Shadow Dance”

Not much to say about this one other than listen and get lost.

2. Erykah Badu – “I Want You”

I wish I were good at spin pole. This song would be perfect. Perhaps this is motivation to practice more on spin.

3. Led Zeppelin – “Since I Been Lovin’ You”

I have a thing for blues and this song just takes me there. Those guitar riffs…swoon.

4. Floetry – “Say Yes”

This is the quintessential passion song.

5. Des’ree – “Kissing You”

This is easily one of my favorite songs ever. If I were a good ballerina, I’d kill this on the adagio tip.

6. Gary Clark Jr. – “Please Come Home”

About my appreciation for blues…

7. Imani Uzuri – “Beautiful”

This song is kind of in the vein of Des’ree’s “Kissing You.” You can hear the passion and intensity in her voice. I love it.

8. Tinashe ft. Travi$ Scott – “Vulnerable”

Yup!

9. Minnie Riperton – “Inside My Love”

This song is an absolute must for a passion inspired playlist.

10. Frank Ocean ft. Andre 3000 – “Pink Matter”

I love that Frank Ocean is being cheeky about “pink matter.” Is it just me or does this song make you want to slink around on the floor?

I mentioned the other day, that my focus in pole dancing lately has been about fluidity. Basically, I’ve been into slower songs that encourage liquid motion. Here are a few songs in align with that mission that I’ve been obsessed with lately. Feel free to add these to your playlist for pole, cool down music or just because you like it.

Trey Songz recently released the video for his single, “Na Na” and he tapped into some of Instagram’s most popular fitness stars including, Mankofit, Rosa Acosta, The Bella Twins (from E!’s Total Divas), and Jazzma. I don’t know how on Earth I missed this video but props to Black Girls Guide to Weight Loss for posting it. It’s a steamy and sensual song featuring Songz in sexy workout situations with each of these women. Brace yourself, it’s not raunchy but it’s still extremely sexy to the point where you may squirm and shout out, YAAAAAASSSSS!

Very nice, Trey Songz. Let’s get those workout dates on and poppin!

Anyway, props to Trey Songz for choosing a variety of women for this video and for celebrating physical strength. By the way, this is a great song for a pole dance, stretch or sexy seats class.

We’ve all seen Pink flexing her aerial silks skills at the Grammys and various other performances but she’s not the only fly singer with a passion for aerial arts. Enter Algebra Blessett. The Grammy-award winning Atlanta native recently released her newest album, Recovery, but she also knows how to fly.

She defies gravity in the video for her lead single, “Nobody But You,” as she dangles alongside special guest Chef Roble on the silks (pictured above). Her silks moves is the perfect complement to the airy but soulful nature of the song and it’s hard to not be mesmerized.

She got into silks after receiving a gift certificate to a trapeze school a few years ago. Once there, she saw beautiful ribbons dangling from the sky and just like that her passion was ignited.

Naturally, I asked her about her skills during a recent interview and what fuels her love affair with silks. She also shares a recent milestone in her practice and gives advice to potential newbies. It goes a little something like…

What sparked your interest in aerial silks?
I’ve always been a fan of the arts. I’ve been going to Cirque du Soleil since they started just to see it. I really didn’t even put two and two together until I actually took that class.Per the video I had been doing it for a year and a half or two years but the first time I performed it on stage, I couldn’t have been doing it more than 9 months, which is not safe at all [laughs].

How often do you get to nurture that part of your passion?
When I’m not on the road I try to find places out of the city. There’s a place here in New York that I go to when I have time but there’s different training things you can do without having to be hanging from the air. You have to keep your stamina up because once you don’t do it for a while, it’s like not running for a month and then trying to do a marathon.

What do you love about it?
The pain [laughs]. You’re in all this pain but then after you heal you’re stronger so I love the end results. I’m infatuated with the progress and I love learning new moves. You know how it is, you’ve taken trapeze, so it’s like, once you figure out the things that you can do in the trapeze you can do the same thing in the silks.

What was the last victory achieved in your progress with the silks?
Doing a wheel down like, knowing how to actually wrap yourself in it and then role down to the ground without holding on. That’s fun.

Any advice for the curious about why they should try it.
Try it and if you find something that you love don’t get discouraged and go at your own pace. A lot of times, you’re in a room with other people that are working out much faster and they’re advancing much faster; some are slower but it’s kind of like yoga, you really advance at your own pace because your body is doing so much work and you’re moving parts of your body that you’ve never used before but you figure out your pace and go at your pace and learn it and stick with it.

Read more about Algebra Blessett’s new album over at The Hollywood Shuffle there’s definitely playlist potential on her album.

Beyonce´ released the latest vignette in a video series where she explains various elements that went into creating the audio and visuals for her latest album. In “Self-Titled Part 4 -Liberation,” she talks about putting her sexuality on display and coming into herself as a new mom who still wants to feel confident and sexy, and as a woman who still has dreams. So many people have had opinions about her work and her motives that it’s nice to hear where her head was during the creative process.

The video opens with Bey talking about the process for “Partition” (one of my favorite songs). Assuming you’ve heard her album by now, and I really hope you did, a lot of the songs and corresponding visuals are sexually suggestive and racy but not raunchy just for the sake of getting attention. Beyonce´revealed that while she is comfortable with being sexual, it was embarrassing to be so open about it during the recording process but she got over it.

For the video, she recreated a Crazy Horse routine that inspired her years ago. She and Jay-Z went to a Crazy Horse show (in Paris) on the night they got engaged and she was so inspired by the sexiness of the dancers that she wanted to be a part of it, so she enlisted them for the video.

Get into cabaret style entertainment!

She also addressed changes she went through once she gave birth to Blue Ivy and working hard to feel normal again postpartum. She doesn’t believe that mom’s should be frumpy and boring and I agree. I’m not a mother but there also seems to be similar belief systems in place when it comes to wives. I’ve seen a lot of women lose themselves to relationships whether it’s marriage or motherhood. They let their bodies go, they give up on their happiness and don’t nurture their own desires, and become people who are constantly saying “I wish I could,” or “Coulda, woulda, shoulda.” I realize that the aforementioned life changes are critical aspects of a woman’s life but I feel it’s also important to maintain elements of your individuality to help foster optimal happiness for all parties involved.

Beyonce´talks about this toward the end of her video when she explains her 195 lb weight gain during pregnancy. She lost 65 lbs following the baby and she felt proud and accomplished, like anyone who loses weight or achieves their optimal physique should.

“I wanted to show my body. I wanted to show that you can have a child and you can work hard and you can get your body back. I know finding my sensuality, getting back into my body, being proud of growing up, it was important to me that I expressed that in this music, because i know that there are so many women that feel the same thing after they give birth,” she says. “You can have your child and you can sill have fun and still be sexy, and still have dreams and still live for yourself. I don’t at all have any shame about being sexual and I’m not embarrassed and I don’t feel like I have to protect that side of me because I do believe that sexuality is a power that we all have.”

Say that again, please!

What she’s saying speaks to me as a 31-year-old. One of the changes I’m experiencing in my 30s is a new found sense of confidence that I didn’t have in my 20s. I heard a lot of women mention this transformation in the past but there’s nothing like experiencing it.

I love her album because it exudes self-confidence, embraces femininity and represents the power of sensuality. I’m still quirky and awkward at times but I’m a work in progress. Again, if you haven’t heard Bey’s new album yet (assuming you’re a fan of pop music) then you should. There’s a lot of good material on there for dance playlists and it’s especially pole dancing gold.

In related news, I may have to make that trip to Paris so I can check out Crazy Horse. However, in the meantime, I guess I could check out some local cabaret and burlesque classes.

About me

My name is Starrene RocqueAnd I am a formerly burned out, New York City-based journalist who looked toward fitness to supplement therapy after years of career stress, layoffs, burnout and near nervous breakdowns...